GBCC Chef Preparing for Certification

By Director of Member Hospitality, Mike Faggio

Chef Robert Rupp has been a member of the of the American Culinary Federation (ACF) since September of 2016. Chef is also a Board Member for the Fox Valley Culinary Association. The Fox Valley Culinary Association is an organization of area chefs and industry professionals who are committed to building relationships, expanding membership and promoting culinary certification and education among its membership in the local community. They generally meet once a month, and every member of the association has an opportunity to host a monthly meeting at their facility.  GBCC will be hosting this year’s formal holiday dinner. These monthly meetings provide opportunities for educational lectures, culinary competitions, formal dinners, tours, and casual social events with students from Fox Valley Technical College.

Chef originally joined the ACF to start preparing for certification. Over the next year he will be preparing for the Certified Executive Chef Exam. Part of this process is documenting all of his work experience, and taking refresher courses in nutrition, food safety, and management. Writing and practicing his menu for the practical exam will also be on the docket. During the practical exam he will be judged on safety, sanitation, organization, and culinary skills.  Along with the practical exam, there is a written exam that covers food, equipment, safety, sanitation, marketing, finances, ethics, professional, and legal issues. We will keep you posted on Chef’s progress in this process!

GBCC Menus and Seasonality

By Executive Chef Robert Rupp

As most of you have probably noticed over the past year, our dining menus have changed more frequently than in years past. I will continue to change the Clubhouse menu as the seasons change here in Green Bay, even though this year it feels like we have had one season…winter! There are a few reasons why I feel it is important for us to do this at GBCC:

1.  Produce quality deteriorates while the price tends to increase. Over the past few weeks lettuce quality, along with some vegetables, was terrible due to the amount of rain the south was receiving. I am starting to see the products improve and the pricing fall more into. Lettuce is a staple on our menu for salads and sandwiches. While we are not going to take lettuce/salads off the menu, it does make things a bit more tricky due to quality issues and vendor shortages. During the winter months we rely heavily on the south for our produce. Over the next few weeks you will start to see us work on the GBCC garden. In addition to last year’s herbs and edible flowers, we are expanding the garden to include tomatoes, green beans, an assortment of peppers, snap peas, etc. We are also tripling our fleet of basil based on last year’s pesto use!
2. To keep things fresh and exciting for members that frequently use their Club. Our goal is to keep all the favorites/best sellers on the menu, while being seasonally innovative. Our summer menu began on Tuesday, May 2nd. If the Roasted Brussels Sprouts an Fig salad was a fall favorite on the menu, I think you will enjoy the summer version of this salad that includes feta cheese and fresh blackberries. We have also added an Ahi Tuna as an appetizer, as an entrée and, you are also able to add pan seared or blackened Ahi Tuna to any salad! The new menu also includes all natural black angus Ribeyes and Tenderloin for your dining pleasure. 

I ask you to always keep in mind that if there is something you are in the mood for, if you enjoyed Friday’s feature, or last week’s featured salad dressing; it never hurts to ask your server! If my team and I have the ingredients and the time, we are more than happy to accommodate! Mentioning special requests when making your reservation is always appreciated.

I hope to see you for our summer kick off on Friday, May 19th. We will be featuring an (optional) Seafood Buffet that evening to accompany complimentary live music in the Pub. The tuna, swordfish and opah are being flown directly to GBCC from Hawaii for this buffet. This is something that you can look forward to seeing more of on the menu throughout the summer.